Obama’s November Blunder

One of Barack Obama’s problems is that he is not a very accomplished public speaker. When he veers away from his teleprompter, which you pretty much have to do on the stump, his instincts are poor and he tends to get into trouble. That happened yesterday when Obama said to a crowd that had just booed Mitt Romney, “No, no, no — don’t boo, vote. Vote. Voting is the best revenge.” That was a dumb thing to say on several levels, and it exposed an ugly aspect of Obama’s personality. He really does think that opposing him is somehow dirty pool, and that “revenge” is the appropriate treatment for those who fail to bow to the mighty Barack.

The Romney campaign was quick to pounce. They produced this ad:

Byron York writes, “Obama campaign struggles to explain ‘revenge’ remark.” The campaign’s purported explanation, which tried to tie Obama’s gaffe to a controversial Romney ad, simply wasn’t true. Obama’s campaign manager ludicrously tried to tie the “revenge” line to Romney by tweeting, “The Romney campaign’s message today is revenge, ours is the President’s plan for the middle class.” Revenge, of course, was Obama’s message, not Romney’s.

Obama’s blunder isn’t likely to tip the scales with many voters, but in the closing days of the campaign it serves as a useful reminder of Obama’s dark side.